About the Center for Lincoln Studies

The Center for Lincoln Studies is dedicated to the study of Abraham Lincoln's life, era, and legacy. Through active learning opportunities, meaningful research, and civic engagement, the Center for Lincoln Studies ensures that everyone has the opportunity to see themselves reflected in Lincoln's legacy.
Center for Lincoln Studies Core Activities
Community Education
The Center for Lincoln Studies offers engaging programs on Lincoln's life, era, and legacy. Most notably, the CLS holds the Mary and James Beaumont Lincoln Legacy Lecture Series every fall. This year, Jon Grinspan, curator of political history at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American history, joins 11th archivist of the United States, Colleen Shogan to discuss Lincoln's age of political disruption and our cotemporary moment of disruptive politics.
Lincoln Research
The Center for Lincoln Studies conducts and supports research on Lincoln, his era, and his legacy. This year the CLS's Book Series released its first book, Lincoln the Citizen: The Complete Version, edited by Michael Burlingame. Recently, CLS director Jacob K. Friefeld's book, The First Migrants, was awarded the Caroline Bancroft History Prize by the Denver Public Library. The book unites Lincoln's legacies of emancipation and free land policy in the West.
Student Opportunity
The Center for Lincoln Studies supports opportunities for student-centered educational experiences through programs like The Lincoln Home National Historic Site Internships, the Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission Internship, and the Long Nine Museum Internship. The Center also employs a graduate research assistant who is an indispensable part of the Center's research team.
Related Degrees
History Degree (B.A., M.A.)
Explore and interpret the past with a history degree from UIS.
